England’s Hayley Davis produced a bogey-free 64, eight under par, for a new tournament record and the lead at the Terre Blanche Ladies Open in Tourrettes, France.

Davis recorded eight birdies, with four in a row from the 4th to 7th, to lead by two shots from France’s Emilie Piquot. The 26-year-old from Poole played solidly, crediting a solid all round game for her lowest round as a professional.

“My tee shots were quite good. I hit some shots really close and my putting was really nice. So it was just a bit of everything really, there was nothing that really stood out. I just played really solid today. I love the golf course, I didn’t think it was an 8 under course but I love it. It’s just good because every tee shot has something different, it’s got a little bit of something to it. I like to play aggressive and on this course you can play aggressive but it’s quite hard so for me it paid off today to stick to my game plan. It was really good.“

Piquot has spent the winter months playing on the Sunshine Ladies Tour in South Africa, having already a number of events under her belt coming into this week, the first event on the 2019 LETAS schedule. Because of her winter warm-up, the Frenchwoman feels match ready and well-practiced to start the season in Europe. It was Piquot’s performance on the greens that she credited for her impressive start.

“The strength of my game was definitely my putting. I putted very well today and my driving was very good too. So it was a good combination of that two sides of my game. During the winter to play competition it’s so much more helpful for me because then this tournament is not like my first event. It’s my eighth tournament of the year so it’s just like it’s another one.“

Spain’s Piti Martinez Bernal and Valentine Derrey of France both shot opening 68’s to be tied for 3rd position. Manon de Roey of Belgium, England’s Annabel Dimmock and Finn Tiia Kovisto all recorded 69’s, three under, for a share of 5th.